


Payphone

by gatergirl79



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Episode references, M/M, request, song inspired fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-01
Updated: 2013-05-01
Packaged: 2017-12-10 02:39:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/780816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatergirl79/pseuds/gatergirl79
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur calls it quits with his saviour Merlin to do his duty to his country. Can a phone bring them back together? Sorry for the sucky summary. No spoilers really, though there are a few episode nods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Payphone

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a request from ~Nnaerb-dbz-fan from DeviantART for a Merthur fic inspired by the Maroon 5 song PayPhone. I'm not sure if this is what's wanted but well, here's what I have.
> 
> ENJOY.

When Merlin saved Prince Arthur Pendragon's life he'd just been in the wrong place at the right time and everything else had kinda spiraled from there. He hadn't thrown himself at Arthur on purpose, out of some sense of heroism. If he was honest, he'd slipped on something and landed on Arthur just as the shot fired. Some people would probably call it destiny or fate or some other ridiculous thing. Merlin called it clumsy feet and the universes way of completely screwing him over.

Anyway that's where it had all begun, and this was where it ended. With Merlin stood in the rain in the middle of London, his back pressed to a phone box, staring down at his mobile and the picture he'd taken only a week before. He wanted to call, but knew he couldn't, cause what was the point? Arthur had made it perfectly clear that it was over. That whatever they'd had wasn't as important as his duty.

He'd like to say he didn't know where it had gone wrong, but the truth was he did. It had been the day he'd met the man. After all, how could it last between a street rat from a single parent household who'd only been thrown into the public eye because he'd slipped on rubbish, and the Prince whose life he'd inadvertently saved. It was ridiculous. Utterly and completely.

What made everything so much worse was that they'd fooled themselves into believing it could actually happen; that they wouldn't be torn apart by duty and everyone around them. They'd stupidly believed in the fairy tale.  _Huh_. If happy ever after's did exist then well, he wouldn't be stood in the rain, he'd be at the palace holding Arthur like he was in the photo. His fingers tightened around the device and he released a resigned sigh. Pushing himself of the phone box he headed up the rain drenched street.

~ **MERTHUR** ~

Arthur sat in his room at the palace, staring out at the rain. He didn't think he'd ever felt worst in his life but then he'd never been in love before he'd met Merlin. He'd had flings of course, but he'd never been close enough to anyone to actually have a proper relationship. Cause it was impossible to have one when you were being watched every second, when everyone expected you to be one way rather than another. When the world wanted you to meet and marry some beautiful Disney princess.

When Merlin had toppled into his arms five years before, saving his life in the process, it had been a dream come true, though at the time he'd been furious. Merlin wasn't the bow and scrape kind of person and that to Arthur was the worst kind. Because it was the biggest turn on imaginable. When Gaius, his father's private sectary had suggested that Arthur could get some popularity points by befriending the young man that had saved his life, he'd been utterly against it. For obvious reasons. Sadly his father thought it was a wonderful publicity stunt. Especially considering that Arthur apparently had a public persona of being a stuck up twat. If he was going to rule one day, his father had pointed out, then the people had to love him and at present that wasn't what they felt for Arthur Pendragon.

So Merlin had been practically shackled to Arthur. Everywhere the Prince went; his new best friend went too. And the populous lapped it up, dubbing them ' _Merthur'_. Arthur hadn't realised just how good an actor he could be. He wasn't pretending to like Merlin for the public's sake; he was pretending to hate him for his own. Sure that as long as he treated the slightly younger man with contempt and distain, that Merlin wouldn't want to spend any time with him beyond what was needed and thereby he wouldn't be tempted.

Of course the universe had worked against him on that front. It seemed everything that could have happened to him, which would lead to being in close proximity to Merlin, did. From the charity football match were they were on opposite teams and seemed to constantly be tackling each other, to Arthur ridiculous accident at the lake, where Merlin had had to drag him from the water, and all under the watchful eyes of the palace and the public.

Things had changed when Merlin's mum had gotten ill and Arthur had insisted on accompanying him home to be with her. He'd stay there the whole time, and apparently this had made him the world's best 'best friend' in the eyes of the country and the world, which had pleased his father immensely. Not that Arthur had given a shit about what his father or the country thought, he'd been too concerned with Merlin. Their third night in the small village had seen their reluctant friendship leap into something more. Merlin had been so worried about his mum it had pieced at Arthur's heart. He'd wanted to comfort him. He hadn't meant for it to lead to a kiss or to them sharing Merlin's small bed. But after that amazing night, they had been inseparable…by choice.

Arthur shivered and tried to push away the memory of that night and the countless other that followed. He turned in his chair and glanced around the silent empty room, his mind calling up memories of them together. It had all seemed so perfect and he'd foolishly allowed himself to dream that he could have what he wanted. Sadly his duty shattered that ideal.

With a heavy sigh Arthur reached out for his phone, staring down at the black screen. He wanted to call him if only to find out if he was alright. But he knew he couldn't. It wouldn't be fair on either of them. It was better to just cut all ties completely.

~ **MERTHUR** ~

Merlin dropped down into the blue plastic seat in the brightly lit kebab shop, his back to the rain soaked window and his donna lying in front of him. He had no idea why he'd bothered ordering it, he wasn't hungry. He couldn't actually remember the last time he'd actually eaten anything, a couple of days at least. That was the thing about break-up, they stole everything from you.

He scanned the shop, noting the group of lad in one corner, laughing and joking. They'd clearly been on the lash and were getting ready to head off to a club. In the opposite corner were three young girls, no more than seventeen sat with their head together whispering, probably about the boys. Merlin felt his chest tighten at the sight. It was so simple for them. For everyone. They just meet, fell in love and lived happily ever after. Yeah, well Merlin had come to the conclusion over the last few days that fairy tales were full of shit. Cause where was his happy ever after? Why didn't he get one? Was it the universe punishing him for having the gall to fall for a prince inside of a princess? Not that that would have made a blind bit of difference. He was still common as muck.

He turned back to his food, staring down at it, his stomach protesting before it had even entered his mouth. Shoving it away, Merlin slouched down in the seat and stared again at his phone for a long while before his head fell back to rest against the cold plastic of a payphone. He closed his eyes and listened to the music playing over a crackling radio.

_Oh, you turned your back on tomorrow,_

_Cause you forgot yesterday._

_I gave you my love to borrow,_

_But you just gave it away._

_You can't expect me to be fine,_

_I don't expect you to care._

_I know I've said it before,_

_But all of our bridges burned down._

Merlin groaned, leaning forward and dropping his head into his hands.

_I've wasted my nights,_

_You turned out the lights,_

_Now I'm paralyzed._

_Still stuck in that time,_

_When we called it love,_

_But even the sun set in paradise._

Merlin shot out of the seat and rushed to the door, his chest burning painfully. Hitting the fresh damp air, he turned his face up into the rain and tried to take a breath, swearing that if he heard another fucking love song he'd be sick. After a few minutes Merlin headed off into the distance, shouldering past the Saturday night party crowd, his dark hoodie pulled down to cover his face. The hand in his pocket wrapped tight around his mobile.

Finally he stopped under a bus shelter with two teenagers giggling over their mobiles. He could hear their conversation and wasn't surprised that it revolved around Arthur and his upcoming marriage. Hearing Arthur's betrotheds name sent a pain through Merlin's chest. To say that Arthur's plans to marry had come as a shock to him wasn't even close to how he'd felt. What was worse was that it was to someone he knew. He'd met Gwen at one of Arthur's polo matches, just before they'd gotten together and he'd liked her. She was the daughter of a foreign dignitary and the Duchess of Devon. They'd hit it off wonderfully. Of course Gwen had no idea about him and Arthur. No one knew that secret. Maybe if she had, she would never have agreed to the arranged marriage.

"I don't like her?" said one of the girls.

"Why? She's nice."

"Yeah, I guess but I don't know….I just don't think she right for him. - I mean have you seen them together. They don't exactly scream hopelessly in love."

Merlin heard the other girl sigh and could picture her rolling her eyes.

"You're only saying that because you think he's gay."

Merlin stiffened at that.

"And?" the first girl huffed. "What if he was?"

"Come on Jess. Even if he was gay, and I don't think he is, they'd never let him marry a guy."

Jess huffed again. "Homophobic bastards. I wouldn't care if Arthur was gay, and I wouldn't care if he married Merlin."

Merlin felt his heart clenched tight. He knew there were people out there that had figured them out, but the public in general just believed what the palace feed them, that they were just good friends.

"Of course goodness sake, jeez Jess, Arthur and Merlin are just friends. That's all. You really need to get with it."

"You're just saying that because you fancy Merlin."

Merlin couldn't help the little smirk; as he hung his head lower so as not to be spotted.

"So what? He hot. - And totally  _not_  gay."

Thankfully a bus came and he was able to escape the teen conversation about his so-called hotness and whether he and Arthur were doing it. He settled into the cushion seat and let his head drop against the window, watching the rain fall.

~ **MERTHUR** ~

Merlin groaned, kicking himself when was woken up by the bus driver. He hadn't even realised he'd fallen asleep, and it was utterly embarrassing to discover he had. Getting to his feet he apologized to the driver and stepped off the bus, heading for the bus going back the way he'd come. He was half way across the street when he realised his phone was missing and his heart froze with panic. He paused mid stride, not caring about the traffic, frantically searching his pockets. It had to be there. He'd never let the thing out of his sight since Arthur had given it to him for his birthday six months ago. Realizing he had actually lost it, he began to shake. He wasn't all that worried about the phone itself, despite it being a gift. What sent a shiver down his spine was what was on the phone.

Turning on his heels, he raced back to the bus. "Sorry. I…can I just check, I think I've dropped my phone."

The driver nodded and let him on, even helping him search, but there was no sign of it. The bottom dropped out of his stomach. Arthur was going to kill him. He leapt off the bus and ran to the nearest phone box. He had to warn Arthur, so that the palace could do some damage control. Merlin wasn't naive enough to think that the phone wasn't going to turn up on some tabloids desk.

Yanking open the door, he lifted the receiver and fished into his pocket for change, groaning when he found none. His heart was pounding with panic, tears burning his eyes. What if Arthur thought he'd done it on purpose? He didn't want him thinking that. He decided his only option was to reverse the charges, but as he lifted his finger to press the button, he remembered that Arthur had gotten a new phone himself, and Merlin hadn't memorized the number. He dropped his forehead against the cold phone, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, tears slipping down his cheeks. After a few moments he took a deep breath and straightened.

Focusing on the phone he dialed the only number burned into his memory. He held his breath as he waiting to hear that gruff old voice.

"Merlin?" Gaius said.

Merlin could tell he'd woken the man. "Yeah, sorry Gaius."

"What's wrong?" he asked with concern.

"I…" Merlin closed his eyes again. "Gaius I've lost my phone."

"So." the old man groaned.

"There was….stuff on it. Personal stuff. - Me and Arthur."

"Oh."

Merlin stood silently in the dimly lit box, waiting for the old man to drag him over the coals for being stupid enough to lose his phone. It felt like a life time until he spoke.

"Merlin."

"Yes." he swallowed nervously.

"I'll take care of it. Just go home."

"But Gaius….I….it's going to cause trouble." he said in a strong unsteady voice. "For everyone."

"Just go home Merlin."

~ **MERTHUR** ~

"Arthur! Arthur!" yelled Morgana, bursting into his room almost the moment the sun was up.

"Go away." he grumbled, pulling the covers over his head and rolling towards the other side of the bed, only to remember it was empty, causing him to groan painfully.

"No Arthur, you need to get up. NOW!"

Arthur forced himself up against the pillow, his eyes still half closed. He hadn't gotten to sleep until six. When he had finally dragged himself to bed, he'd been three sheets to the wind. Drinking had been the only thing he could think to do to block out the pain. Sadly sleep hadn't delivered any comfort. His dreams were full of Merlin. Memories merging with fantasies, wishes his heart was making. "What?"

Morgana stared at him as she threw a pile of paper onto his bed covers. Arthur forced his eyes to stay open as he reached for them.

"What are these?" he asked, trying to focus on what was printed.

"It's all over the internet, probably the papers too. - Arthur….I…." she fell silent as she watched her younger brother pale.

**Prince Arthur In Gay Relationship With Best Friend.**

**Merthur Comes Out.**

**Future King and Queen.**

Each headline was accompanied by a very revealing picture of him and Merlin, one that could have only come from his ex-lover. Arthur didn't want to believe Merlin had betrayed him, but if he had, he couldn't blame him. He'd made him promises he couldn't have kept. Swallowing he scanned the article. Each say an anonymous source had informed them of the secret relationship between the heir to the thrown and the young man that had saved his life. They went on to question how long the relationship had been going on.

"Has father seen this?"

The answer came when one of the palace staff knocked on the door and informed him that the king demanded his presence in the breakfast room, immediately.

Arthur threw back his covers, dressed quickly and headed off to face his father. He felt eyes on him all the way to the breakfast room. It felt like every member of staff was judging him, which he knew they probably were. Arthur tried to walk with a straight spine, tried not to feel intimidated. He told himself what had happened with Merlin hadn't been wrong, they'd loved each other, it's what he'd done for his country, that's what was wrong. He walked into the breakfast room to find his father sat at the table, Gaius at his side. There was no food, only papers. His heart crashed against his chest and the bottom dropped out of his stomach.

"Is this true?" Uther Pendragon asked in an unnaturally calm tone.

All he had to say was no. One little lie. But Arthur was tired of lying. He'd done everything they'd asked him to since he was old enough to walk. He'd been forced to attend a school he'd hated, play a sport he despite, be friends with people he couldn't stand, and all because it was his duty. Where was their duty to him? Why was he always the one making the sacrifices for the good of his country?

And what about Merlin? He hadn't signed up for this anymore than he had. He'd done one stupidly heroic thing, by accident no less, and they'd dragged him into a world he wasn't prepared for, forced him to befriend an arrogant clot who cared little about anything but himself. Yet despite that, they'd found something meaningful. Then duty had ripped it away because he couldn't be allowed to be who he was, to love who he wanted. He had to marry for the good of the country. And he'd done it, because it was his duty. Well, it was time to kick duty in the teeth. He wasn't lying to anyone any more. He wasn't going to throw away the only person who had ever shown him true affection. "Yes." Arthur said, his chin raised proudly. "It's all true."

The room fell silent, that fragile, uncomfortable silence that suffocated.

"Do you have any idea what this means?"

"That I'm gay."

Uther took a deep breath, glaring at his son with hard grey eyes. "I won't let you risk the future of this kingdom over some boy."

"That boy saved my life. - More than once. - And you can't stop me loving him."

"Dammit Arthur!" Uther snapped.

"No. I've made my decision father. I'm not going to marry Gwen, and if it means abdicating, then that's fine with me. Morgana can rule."

"Arthur, don't be ridiculous."

Arthur didn't speak again; instead he just turned and marched out of the room, only pausing for a second when his father yelled his name.

~ **MERTHUR** ~

Merlin was buried under his covers, hiding from the world and his own mistake. He'd woken up to find that the world knew about him and Arthur. It seemed to be the most important story of the day. He actually wondered if it was possible that his and Arthur relationship had actually brought world peace. As it was it hurt to see their private memories splashed all over the television, having them picked apart and discussed like they were public property. He could only imagine how angry Arthur was. He was even expecting to be dragged off to the tower as punishment.

They finally did come for him two days later. It was still the story of the century, and the gossip hounds where camped on his doorstep just waiting for him to take a step outside, which was never going to happen. After five years in the public eye, he knew when to dig in for the long haul. The whole situation was being made worse by the palaces refusal to make a statement.

He was sitting on the couch with a tub of ice cream, his curtains close to the world when a voice called through the letter box. It hadn't been the first; the press had tried every trick in the book to get him to open up. Saying they were from the palace had been tried more than once, so he wasn't rushing to open the door. Not until the man called a single word through.

"Dragon."

It wasn't original granted but it was all they'd been able to come up with at the time. With the code word, Merlin was out of his seat and running to the door, opening it just enough to let the man in a suit through.

"Mr. Emrys. I'm here to take you to the palace."

Merlin visibly paled but the taller man he'd seen around over the years said nothing. He just stood there, resting his weight on an umbrella.

"When you're ready?"

"Can I change?"

The man scanned him from top to toe and nodded. "Quickly."

Five minutes later Merlin was being led out of the house and towards a black car. He head hanging down while camera flashes went off around him, police pushing back the reporters.

Walking back into the palace was like coming home. He's spent so much time there over the past few years, the only thing that made it uncomfortable was the knowledge that he was being stared at from all quarters. It was actually rather strange considering a good number of the staff knew what had been going on between him and Arthur for those four and a half years. In such a large house, with such a large collection of staff someone was bound to have seen something. A chaste kiss in a hallway. Merlin sneaking out of Arthur's room before dawn, Merlin and Arthur wrapped around each other in bed. He figured it was one thing knowing a secret when it was a secret, it was quite another when it was public knowledge.

"Wait here." the man ordered, vanishing around a corner.

Merlin dropped down on to the elegant red and gold couch and did as he was told. He hadn't been this nervous since the first day he'd been brought here and been offered the opportunity to be Arthur new best friend. If they had told him then that the arrogant pig-headed conceited Prince Arthur would turn out to be the love of his life, he would have laughed in their faces.

"Merlin."

He jumped out of his seat and spun around to face the prince. "Arthur…." he rushed forward. "I swear, I didn't do it. Not on purpose. I lost my phone. I'm sorry Arthur."

Arthur's full pouting lips curved into a soft lopsided smile. "I know Merlin. Gaius told me everything." he stepped forward. "I'm sorry I haven't called you here sooner, but well, I wanted to sort everything out…with Gwen and my father. I didn't want to drag you into a war zone."

Merlin dropped his gaze. "It's fine. I'm surprise you didn't send me straight to the tower."

"Don't give my father ideas Merlin. Because I'm not going to play knight in shining amour, rescuing you from towers." he laughed. "I may be a prince but I draw the line at that."

Merlin frowned. "Arthur, why am I here?" he asked cautiously.

Arthur took another step forward, his pale blue eyes meeting Merlin's darker ones, reaching out for the shaking hand. "Well, I was kind of hoping…" he breathed, stepping even closer. "…that maybe…hopefully….you'd come home."

Merlin's heart leapt into his throat. "H-home?"

"Well you were already practically living here."

Merlin didn't want to hope. "W-what about….G-Gwen?" he asked breathlessly.

"I don't think it would be appropriated for her to move in too." Arthur smirked. "Considering we've called off our engagement."

"Y-you d-did?" Merlin's head instantly began to spin.

"Of course."

"Because of the papers?" Merlin whispered, dropping his head.

Arthur sighed. "Merlin, I wish I could say I would have called it off on my own but to be honest, I don't know if I would have. All I know is that I've been miserable since you left, I've drunk the house dry trying to numb the pain and the papers getting hold of your phone was like a miracle, because it gave me the courage to do what I wanted for a change."

"And you want to do me?" Merlin smiled cheekily, looking up though dark black lashes.

"Constantly." Arthur replied in a deep seductive voice, his free hand snaking around Merlin's neck and pulling him into a deep seductive kiss. "So, what do you say?"

"What about your father?" Merlin asked breathlessly. "And your duty to the country?"

"My father's still having fits, but he'll get over it. As for the country, they'll just have to make do with a queen."

"That's not funny Arthur."

"I meant Morgana, genius. – She's older than me; she should have been first in line anyway, so I'll abdicate, she'll take the reins and we can hide ourselves away in the country. - I know a nice little village in the midlands."

Merlin sighed sadly. "But Arthur, all you've ever wanted to be was king."

"No, all everyone else wanted me to be was king. I just want to have a life with someone I love. – So what do you say?"

"When do we leave?" Merlin asked, pulling Arthur into another kiss, while thanking heaven for miracles and the extinction of payphones.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the sucky final line, I never know how to end a story. I hope this story meet with everyone's approval. I actually had fun writing this and I've kinda fallen in love with the song too.


End file.
